Duration of flooding sessions in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive patients

This study investigated the duration effect of flooding ‘in vivo’ and ‘in fantasy’ in twelve obsessive-compulsive patients treated in a balanced Latin square design. Clinical assessments regarding twenty one clinical variables were carried out before and after each treatment condition. Long practice sessions proved significantly superior to other treatment conditions. Short and long sessions ‘in fantasy’ did not diner significantly. Long fantasy sessions appear to have potentiating effects on in vivo practice sessions. The order effect and the intercorrelation of the variables prior to treatment and to the outcome, are also presented. Some prognostic factors and the follow-up findings are discussed.